Conventional double-deck elevators have been disclosed in which an elevator car having a lower car and an upper car positioned above the lower car is raised and lowered inside a hoistway, such as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI 11-71063 (Gazette), for example.
Operating modes of conventional double-deck elevators include a double operating mode and a semi-double operating mode. In the double operating mode, the lower car stops only at odd-numbered floors, and the upper car stops only at even-numbered floors. In the semi-double operating mode, a distribution similar to that of the double operating mode is performed only at departure floors (normally the first floor and the second floor), and once a landing call has been answered, both the lower car and the upper car stop at any floor. If the departure floors are the first floor and the second floor, escalators are used for movement between the first and second floors.
The operating mode is switched depending on degrees of congestion. Specifically, the double operating mode, which has a high transport efficiency, is implemented during periods of peak congestion, and the semi-double operating mode is implemented outside peak periods.
However, in a conventional building occupied by a plurality of tenants, the tenants occupy vertically continuous floors, such as Company A occupying eight and ninth floors, Company B occupying tenth through fourteenth floors, and Company C occupying fifteenth through eighteenth floors, for example. During peak periods in which the double operating mode is implemented, since the double-deck elevator cannot be used for movement between odd-numbered floors and even-numbered floors even inside the same company, the tenants are forced to use stairs.
In contrast to this, if the semi-double operating mode is implemented during peak periods, transport capacity decreases and waiting time is increased.
Consequently, there is demand for utilization efficiency of the double-deck elevator to be improved, and for user friendliness to be increased.